Guide on Using Fresh Flowers on Wedding Cakes

All cakes decorated with fresh flowers look great, but actually they can cause severe indigestion and food poisoning. The problem is that flowers that your florist can recommend might be poisonous, if consumed. So it's better to know, what flowers never can't be used for cake decoration, and which ones are actually edible.

Edible flowers. The list of edible flowers is quite long and you really can find something that will look great on your cake. Roses, nasturtium, borage, calendula, chamomile, chrysanthemum, fuchsia, gardenia, marigold, pansy, mint, sage, violet, sunflower, hibiscus, gladiolus, lilac are all edible flowers. Well, even if roses are edible, we strongly recommend not to consume them.

Poisonous flowers. Many people don't know, that the flowers they've chosen for decoration of their wedding cake are actually poisonous. The list is as long as the list of edible flowers, and many of them have been used for decoration! So, the poisonous and toxic flowers are azalea, crocus, belladonna, calla lily, foxglove, larkspur, hyacinth, lily-of-the-valley, hydrangea, carnation, tulip, ranunculus, succulents. Also keep away from orchids, because they are usually heavy sprayed with insecticides to keep their best look.

Don't ask your florist to provide your with edible flowers for your cake. The problem is that florists don't know how edible flowers should be treated. The flowers that look clean don't automatically mean that they can be used for decoration of your wedding cake. Actually, all flowers that the florists provide are grown with the use of pesticides and insecticides to keep their good look. The same concerns the flowers that are bought in a grocery store. If you really want to use safe flowers, then contact a reputable organic grower, who's licensed to provide you with organic edible flowers.

Never let flowers touch the cake. Unless you get the organic flowers that were grown specifically to be eaten, any organic flowers are considered only to be a decoration, not food. Remember it and never let flowers touch the cake. The most dangerous are the stems, because if they touch the cake, they leave bitter taste. If the stems will be stuck into the cake, they should be wrapped in a non-toxic tape.

The flowers should be thoroughly washed. It goes without saying, that all flowers should be washed and dried before they are used for decoration. You don't want any of the petals to have some dirt on them, or a bug sitting inside of the flower.

Remove flowers, before serving the cake. If you have organic flowers that can be eaten, you can leave them on your cake while serving. But if you're not sure about the flowers, then you should definitely remove them, while cutting the dessert. By the way, always tell guests, if they really can or can't eat flowers. You never know, who's adventurous enough to try the cake with flowers on it.